November 27, 2014
China starts 2014/15 corn stockpiling scheme
China will begin to buy corn from farmers this week under an annual intervention programme, offering the same prices last year as it aims to support the domestic market and boost rural incomes, Reuters reports.
According to China's State Administration of Grain, Beijing will pay 2,220-2,260 yuan (US$362-368) a ton to farmers in its northeastern provinces during the stockpile scheme, which will run until the end of April 2015.
Under the programme, now in its seventh year, the government is expected to stockpile about 40 million tonnes of corn in 2014/15, down from 60 million last year.
Due to stockpiling schemes, domestic corn prices in China are more than 20% higher than global prices.
Apart from China Grain Reserves Corp (Sinograin), two other state-owned firms will join the stockpiling scheme, the State Administration said. COFCO will purchase an initial five million tonnes of corn, while China Textile Group will buy one million tonnes.
China will also offer subsidies for the construction of temporary storage facilities.